NOT a single inch of iTaukei land has been lost under the government prior to the election, under the Constitution or under the FijiFirst Government.
Instead, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said, because of the Constitution and the Government, the iTaukei people were more empowered than ever before.
“And their land is more secure than ever before,” Mr Bainimarama said at the official opening of the Buca Bay highway in Cakaudrove on Tuesday.
He said the opposing SODELPA had continued to spread lies that they were eroding the rights of the iTaukei when the reverse was true.
“We have strengthened those rights and ensured that they are protected for all time. And I urge every iTaukei to examine the truth for yourself by reading our Constitution that we had translated into i’Taukei.”
In response, SODELPA president Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu said the issue of landownership should not be used for political grandstanding.
He said they were not interested in political debate over land.
He said both the Government and the Opposition should be sensitive to the indigenous owners of land and not to confuse them or draw them away from the truth.
“SODELPA wants resolutions and the review of some of the policies that encroach on land matters as well as other indigenous-owned resources, for example the Land Bank Decree as well as the Surfing Decree and the Mahogany Decree,” Ratu Naiqama said in a statement issued yesterday.
“SODELPA has always maintained its position that some of the aspects of the above mentioned decrees are not conducive to the true spirit of mutual benefit and entrepreneurship.
“This is the reason SODELPA maintained that land was neither safe nor secure, under such draconian regulations.
“We are not interested in lying to the people and it serves us no purpose.”
